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Monthly Archives: September 2009

So, I promised I’d tell you where I’ve been, and here it is: I’ve been on vacation. No, not the kind of vacation where you hop on a plane, travel to some far off beach destination, sleep in foreign sheets, and sip cocktails all day under the sun. This wasn’t even the kind of vacation where you take any real time off of work. Nonetheless, this was my summer vacation.

I've been away for a while, I know. I have every intention of telling you all where I've been and what I've been up to--and I will, very soon--but there's something else that's been on my mind and that I need to put out there.

I've already been pretty vocal about my desires to change the way I eat, to be more conscious of how/where I get my food, and that I think it's important that everyone starts making these kinds of changes. It seems sometimes that there's a fine line, though, in the world of food writing. It's the line between communicating these things in an effective (and affective) manner and obnoxiously preaching...most often to the converted. I'm going to go not so far out on a limb here and say that most food writers are well aware of the crisis and are already taking steps--like shopping at farmers' markets, buying humanely raised meats and local, seasonal produce--to affect their own change. Standing up and raising your voice in favor of revolution can feel a bit awkward when those around you are shrugging their shoulders and saying, "Yeah, we know."

But, at the risk of sounding completely adolescent (and I sort of am in all of this, I'm still finding my place in it), I've decided to open up a little further. I think it can be helpful to hear the same thing again in a new way, in a different voice. Sometimes changing a few words around can make someone see a piece that was never quite clear before and suddenly the whole picture looks different. Still, dear reader, feel free to venture away at this point and return for my next post, if you'd like. No hard feelings.

I've been thinking a lot lately about consumerism and priorities. What do we spend our money on and why? What are we really gaining when we make a purchase? What is the larger impact of these choices?